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 M¢60  Funded By Mahalo ? |  September 03, 2009 01:19 AM

Which variety of apple did William Tell shoot off his son's head?

Please confine your answer to information or speculation on the variety of apple and assume the historical accuracy of the William Tell legend.
Interesting Question?  Yes (1)   No (0)   

Interesting: jeffhoard M$0.10

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satchellmr satchellmr
 
 September 03, 2009 01:44 AM
Okay this is real speculation here.

So I looked up the William Tell story and found that the event apparently took place on the 18th of November 1307.

Then I looked up which apples grow in Switzerland and are harvested near November.
I found the Arlet apple, also known as the Swiss Gourmet. This apple is harvested between September and December.
http://199.133.36.100/webstuff/arlet1.jpg
http://www.allaboutapples.com/varieties/var_s6.htm

Apparently the Swiss love there cider and I found other resources for this type of apple.

I think there is just too much myth in this story. Maybe if you looked at a historical piece of literature you might find some mention of the specific species.
Source(s):
http://www.allaboutapples.com/index.htm

Asker's Rating:
• This answer is wrong but you gave it a good try.


Tags: swiss, arlet, william, apple, tell

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Helpful: albanian, bunnyphuphu

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albanian albanian
 
September 03, 2009 12:16 PM
Good try, that's the kind of research help I was hoping for. However, it turns out to be wrong because I checked on it a bit and found:
"Arlet (Swiss Gourmet) – Golden Delicious x Idared, Federal Research Station
Wadenswil, Wadenswil, Switzerland, introduced, 1984" from http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/ebooks/samples/Apple_Pedigrees_Sample_10_07.pdf
So that one is a modern breed. Probably no apple variety has survived since 1308; but, there might be some classic Swiss apple variety that can claim to be a descendant.

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satchellmr satchellmr
 
September 03, 2009 03:36 PM
I think this is one of those questions we will never know the answer to. Unfortunately, its just so long ago and the myth has been reshaped through generations.

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albanian albanian
 
September 03, 2009 05:53 PM
But we might be able to find out what Swiss variety of apple is most traditional and closest to those grown in the Middle Ages.

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satchellmr satchellmr
 
September 03, 2009 07:32 PM
I agree, but for example it may never have been an apple. The years may have twisted the story into something completely different, so in reality William Tell shot a grapefruit off his sons head... you know what I mean.

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albanian albanian
 
September 03, 2009 08:20 PM - New Source
While the details may be debatable, the earliest versions of the story do say apple. And it couldn't have been a grapefruit"
"the grapefruit (C. paradisi Macfad.), mandarin (C. reticulata Blanco) and sweet orange (C. x aurantium L.) arrived to the West between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries as a result of the trade with the British and Portuguese colonies."
http://www.springerlink.com/content/b5rh566jwn03431p/

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